Home
by theoofoof
Summary: "He had worried that he would find her like this. They'd spoken at length on the phone about the conflicted feelings she was having about the case, and he'd known she was struggling." Post-ep for 'Part 33'. Home


Wearily, Rafael Barba slipped the key into the lock and quietly entered the darkened apartment. It had been one hell of a journey – one that he was very glad to see the back of. He shrugged off his coat and stepped out of his shoes, hanging the former on the hook before stowing the others away in the designated cubby. Free of the restrictive clothing, he placed his hands on his lower back and arched it, stretching out the tight muscles caused by his long drive. He hadn't taken any comfort breaks, wanting to get to his destination as quickly as possible, and his back was protesting.

Loathed to turn on the light, for fear of disturbing the apartment's sleeping occupants, he padded through the living room, trying his best to avoid obstacles. Having become increasingly adept at navigating the apartment in the dark over recent months, he was doing quite well until he reached the middle of the room.

"Ah! Fu-!" he gasped as the ball of his foot came into contact with something hard and sharp.

He stumbled to the sofa and reached for the lamp on the end table. He lifted his foot to inspect it and plucked a small yellow brick from between his toes.

"Damn Lego," he muttered, making a mental note to re-tutor Noah on the merits of using his toy box tomorrow.

Placing the offending brick on the table, he limped down the hall, stopping at Noah's room to check on him. He poked his head through the boy's door, the nightlight silhouetting his sleeping form. He was sprawled out like a starfish, eyelids fluttering as he dreamed, holding Eddie tightly by one leg.

He closed the door, leaving it open a crack in case Noah called for Olivia in the night, before crossing to the master bedroom.

Olivia was also asleep, but her slumber wasn't as peaceful as her son's. She was tossing and turning, moaning and writhing under the covers. Rafael stripped down to his boxer-briefs and undershirt and lay his clothes over the back of the chair that sat in the corner of the room. As he neared the bed, he began to make out words in Olivia's moans.

"No. No! Don't! Please."

He had worried that he would find her like this. - even exchanged messages about it today while she was in The Box and he was between lectures. He'd known she was struggling. So, when Amanda had called him and told him that Liv was making parallels between the case and her experience with William Lewis, he knew he had to make the three-hour drive from Avon, Connecticut, back to Manhattan. She didn't _need_ him to be there – she was a strong woman and she would get through it – but they were a couple now and he _wanted_ to be there for her. To comfort her.

He pulled back the covers on his side and slipped into the bed. "Liv, Liv," He gently shook her shoulder, and then promptly removed it, knowing that any further contact could send her deeper into her nightmare or even trigger a panic attack.

He was right about her sense of terror. At his touch, her eyes flew open and she lay ram-rod straight in the bed, her muscles tense and stiff, her breathing quick and shallow. Her eyes darted around the room, but her head stayed still and stiff. If he hadn't had been leaning up on his elbow, he doubted she would have seen him.

"Hey, hey, it's just me," he assured softly.

At hearing his voice, seeing his face, Olivia let out a breath and sagged. When, after a few moments, she was calm enough to speak, she turned to him and whispered,

"What are you doing here?" They usually managed to see each other two weekends out of four – sometimes he came to her, sometimes she went to him – but she was working this one and Noah was spending Saturday at a friend's house so they'd agreed he should stay in Connecticut. He hadn't minded, citing several piles of papers that needed grading.

"Amanda called. I told the Dean I needed a personal day tomorrow and here I am."

"But you've got so much work," she began, but he silenced her with a finger to her lips. "I can grade papers anywhere and what student doesn't like a cancelled 9am lecture. Maybe it'll get me some extra brownie points."

"You mean Noah's little show last weekend didn't endear them all to you?"

He'd had a late Friday evening lecture, and she and Noah had driven up for the weekend, and they had surprised him by waiting outside his building for him. When he'd filed out of the lecture hall, along with his class, Noah had spotted him instantly and ran up to him, shouting 'Uncle Rafa' at the top of his voice. The students had parted like The Red Sea, to let the boy through and stared, almost unbelievingly, as Rafael had dropped his briefcase to the floor and bent to greet Noah with a hug, picking him up and spinning him around.

Olivia smiled as she recalled the expressions on both Noah and Rafael's faces as they were reunited, but it didn't quite reach her eyes.

Rafael reached out and place his hand on her hip. "I knew you were struggling with testifying, Liv, but I didn't realise how much."

"It's hard enough to talk about it in person with someone, but over the phone…"

He knew she wasn't being petty, just stating a truth, but her comment still stung a little. It was no one's fault, they were just victims of their current circumstances. Long distance relationships weren't easy, but after dating for only five months, Rafael didn't think they weren't at a stage to have conversations about living together or marriage even though that's what he saw for them in their future.

"I'm fine. Amanda shouldn't have called you." He opened his mouth to object, but she silenced him with a finger to his lips. "But it brought you here, so I can't really be angry at her."

"I'm sorry you had to go through that today. Did the jury come back with a verdict?"

She shook her head. "Not yet. They've been sequestered." She took a deep, steadying breath. "Thinking of what Annabeth went through, every day of her marriage. It just brought everything back, y'know." She wiped her face, as a single tear escaped and ran down her cheek. "Every time I start to think I'm over it, something like this happens and I'm right back in that beach house."

Rafael gathered her into his arms, resting his chin on her shoulder. She held him tight, her fingers grasping at the soft fabric of his undershirt.

"You're okay," he told her, his breath ghosting the shell of her ear as he spoke. "You're safe. Lewis is dead. He can never hurt you again. You're at home in your own bed, at home, in your Manhattan apartment. Your son is sound asleep down the hall, although I'm afraid I can't say the same for Eddie. He was precariously balanced on the edge of the bed when I looked in."

The image of Rafael, looking in on her son, maybe even re-tucking him in, warmed her heart. God, she loved him. She nuzzled against his neck, placing a gentle kiss against his pulse point. "And you're here."

"And I'm here. And tomorrow morning, I am going to make us all a nice, sugar-filled pancake breakfast, and then, we're going to take Noah to school and–"

"I have work tomorrow," she reminded him, pulling away to look at him.

"Take a personal day," he suggested, "and we can spend the day doing whatever _you_ want to do."

"Well, I do have a backlog of _Say Yes to the Dress_ on the DVR."

Rafael groaned. "You know I find that Randy's taste in suits offensive."

Olivia giggled and pecked him on the lips. "Watch a couple of episodes with me in the morning and then maybe we can spend the afternoon in bed."

"You've got yourself a deal." He rolled onto his back, pulling Olivia with him. As she re-settled herself, her head on his shoulder, her palm on his chest and her leg hooked over his, he spoke again. "You know I don't expect a reward, right? I'm not like Thomas Pearl. You don't have to have sex with me to keep me happy."

"Having sex with you keeps me happy," she replied, tracing a line down his chest with her finger.

"Liv…"

Her hand came to rest over his heart. "I know," she assured him. "Thomas Pearl wouldn't have driven three hours because Annabeth needed him. He wouldn't watch some reality TV show he hatedbecause he understood that she needed to get lost in some mindless drivel to get out of her head." She shook her head. "No. You are _nothing_ like him. I couldn't love someone like him."

She snuggled in closer and as her breathing evened out, she murmured, "I'm so glad that you're home."

_Home. _Rafael turned that word over in his head as Olivia drifter off to sleep in his arms. Whoever had coined the phrase '_home is where the heart is_' was right. Home for him was wherever Olivia and Noah were. He wondered if maybe he was wrong earlier. Maybe, once the trauma of this latest case had eased, it was time to have some conversations about the future.

In the meantime, he would be climbed all over by Noah in the morning, make them all breakfast then accompany Liv as she took him to school, before sitting through her show and then showing her how much he loved and wanted her until they had to pick Noah up. He would then, no doubt, be persuaded into a game of Lego Star Wars until late into the evening when he'd be on bedtime story duty. He would find time to grade his papers, probably when Olivia was work and Noah at his friend's house, but the rest of his time here would be focused on them.

That was his life now and he wouldn't change it, except for maybe the long-distance part. He lifted his head slightly to brush his lips against her hair.

"Me too. There's nowhere else I'd rather be."


End file.
